Legal Question in Traffic Law in New York

concealed damage freight claims

I am currently arguing numerous claims with the same freight carrier in which a majority of those are concealed damage claims. Our customers are librarians, museum curators, etc. and unfortuneatly do not sign for or note damage on the DR's. This freight carrier seems to insist that they will only pay 1/3 of the claim amount - and it does not matter if they were notified 1 day after delivery or 5 or 10, etc. Is there a listing of specific laws, or court cases, in which I might find something to use in my arguments? A lot of these issues are obvious forklift damage, and our customers do not own them.


Asked on 2/12/03, 3:23 pm

1 Answer from Attorneys

Rod Kovel Rod Kovel, Attorney at Law

Re: concealed damage freight claims

Dear Reader:

In examining this response, please note that we are not entering into an attorney/client relationship, that this is to be taken as informative, and not as legal advice, that it is always best to speak to a lawyer in your area and/or in the area where the transaction and/or events occurred, and that my answer is necessarily limited by the fact that I have not seen the documentation or had an opportunity to go over the matters with you in detail.

I suggest you start with any written agreements or terms and conditions on the carrier's shipping forms to see what it is liable for. Fedex and other shippers have liability limits coupled with optional insurance. If your claims under the forms are still denied, sue or use the process listed on the forms to appeal or arbitrate, etc.

Protect yourself by taking a photo of each outgoing parcel, and ship with a signature requirement.

Or look for a new carrier.

Good luck.

As I mentioned before, this is something that you may want to take up with a lawyer of your own selection, either in your state or area or in a place where some of the pertinent events occurred.

Rod Kovel

Attorney at Law

516-312-9900

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Answered on 2/13/03, 11:18 am


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